


Crowfeather's Trial

by Burgie



Category: Warriors - Erin Hunter
Genre: Crack, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-17
Updated: 2018-09-17
Packaged: 2019-07-13 18:01:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,940
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16023095
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Burgie/pseuds/Burgie
Summary: Pure crack based on the title of the next Warriors book.





	Crowfeather's Trial

Crowfeather woke in a dark place. Immediately, he panicked, looking around in alarm. Was he in the Dark Forest, the Place of No Stars? He'd heard about that place a lot recently, the place where the most evil of cats came. But why was he here? He had no desire for power, no thirst for revenge. He just wanted to live his life with his new mate, be a good father to his son, try to repent for the sins that he had committed with Leafpool. Was the Dark Forest recruiting code-breakers now? Surely, it couldn't be. Tigerstar had been ruthless against half-Clan cats, the tales about him had told that much.

"Hello?" Crowfeather called. His breath didn't mist in front of him. Not that he'd be able to see it even if it did, he couldn't see a thing in here. Was he in the tunnel travelling to the Moonstone? No, that wasn't right, either, he didn't live there anymore. The Clans hadn't lived there for many moons now. Besides, it wasn't cold enough for it to be the Moonstone tunnels. But it wasn't cold here, either. It was the same temperature as it had been in his nest. A sudden thought struck him, making him yowl in panic. Maybe he was blind? Had StarClan struck him blind like his son, to punish him? A part of him already felt that Jayfeather's blindness was his fault, StarClan's judgement for the sins of his parents.

And suddenly, light. Crowfeather blinked, dazzled by the sudden light. Again, the thought of the Moonstone hit him, and again, he knew that it couldn't possibly be. He wasn't a medicine cat or a leader, and probably wouldn't be for many moons, StarClan willing.

"Quiet your yowling, you sound as if there were a fox on your tail," a familiar voice snapped at him. Crowfeather looked up, startled. Above and in front of him, there sat a cat behind a wooden... thing. It looked very much like a Twoleg creation. Oddly, the cat was wearing a strange white pelt on its head, while a black pelt was over its body.

"Who are you?" asked Crowfeather, looking at the starry black cat. The stars shimmered in its pelt. "Am I dead?"

"No, you foolish mouse-brain," said the StarClan cat. "You have been brought before StarClan today to answer for your crimes."

"W-what crimes?" Crowfeather stammered, the fur on his back rising.

"The crime of siring half-Clan cats," said the StarClan cat. Suddenly, all around him, more StarClan cats appeared, ringed around him. Their starry pelts made him feel as though he were floating in the sky. But his paws were firmly on this dark ground.

"Oh, that," said Crowfeather. The StarClan cat in the pelts hissed, making Crowfeather's ears lay flat back as he backed up like a frightened kit.

"Breaking the warrior code is no joke!" the StarClan cat declared. "And you have not broken it in only one way." The StarClan cat straightened, green eyes seeming to glow. "Crowfeather, you stand accused of breaking the warrior code by not only siring cats outside of your Clan but also fathering kits to a medicine cat."

The cats around Crowfeather hissed and growled, lashing their tails angrily.

"How do you plead?" asked the StarClan cat.

"It was an accident!" said Crowfeather. Yowls arose from the crowd, making him flinch back again. "I-i mean, not an accident, a mistake."

"Accidentally siring kits is rather difficult," said the StarClan cat, amusement in its voice. It waved its tail for silence.

"I was in love," said Crowfeather. This time, a few purrs could be heard from the other StarClan cats, along with murmurs of how sweet it was and that young love could often be so sweet and yet so foolish. The StarClan cat waved its tail again as the crowd started to get a little loud as the StarClan cats told stories of being young and in love. "But it was a mistake and I regret everything." He'd also learned that his kits had almost been killed by a jealous Ashfur. "And I'm sorry."

To his surprise, the StarClan cat hissed.

"Being sorry won't bring me back!" she hissed, leaning towards him and finally showing her face. It was Hollyleaf, the daughter that he'd lost twice now.

"Hollyleaf!" said Crowfeather, so pleased to see her. But his tail dropped again when she continued to growl.

"I was killed because of what you did!" Hollyleaf accused. "I had to kill Ashfur because of your mistake. Nothing can erase the blood on my paws, father." She spat the last word.

"I know," said Crowfeather, keeping his head lowered. He couldn't bear to meet his daughter's angry gaze. Hollyleaf huffed, leaning back again.

"But now, I must call forward some witnesses who can attest to your crimes," said Hollyleaf. "Breezepelt."

Crowfeather's eyes were wide as he watched his son settle into a Twoleg creation called a 'box'. Apparently, kittypets liked them. A true warrior would never stoop to sitting in one, however.

"You're better off without him, Hollyleaf," said Breezepelt, his angry gaze on his father. "He's a horrible father."

"No I'm n-" Hollyleaf cut Crowfeather off with a yowl.

"Next witness!" Hollyleaf called. As Breezepelt jumped out of the box, a very familiar light brown tabby who made Crowfeather's heart leap settled into the box. She looked at him, hurt in her eyes.

"Leafpool," said Crowfeather softly.

"Because of him, I had to give my kits to my sister, who lied to her mate and raised them as her own," said Leafpool. "The discovery of their true parentage destroyed Squirrelflight and Bramblestar's relationship. I do not know if they'll ever recover." She looked sadly at the ground. "You have no idea how hard it was to watch my kits grow up all those years. And now, I live with my sister's grief over her ruined relationship. All because of a mistake that I made as a foolish young cat. My son is blind, a curse from StarClan to punish me for what I have done."

As Leafpool jumped out of the box to take her place among the starry ranks of cats, many of whom brushed up against her to comfort her, a grey cat jumped into the box with all the ease of a cat who could see. Because he could see here, in dreams.

"Bramblestar was the best father that we could have asked for, and Squirrelflight the best mother," said Jayfeather. "They raised us well, even with a blind son. We were loved. The good kind of love, too, not the one that destroys Clans." For some reason, Jayfeather was suddenly hugging a stick covered in claw marks.

"Even if he lied?" Hollyleaf asked, looking at her brother.

"Even if they lied," said Jayfeather. "What my real parents did was wrong, but our foster parents didn't deserve any of the pain and suffering that happened."

Suddenly, Hollyleaf yowled, a sound that Crowfeather instinctively recognised as the universal signal to attack. The StarClan cats swarmed over him, mouths open in yowls. No physical blows landed, but Crowfeather felt like he was drowning in a sea of stars. He struggled, yowling in terror.

"Irresponsible!"

"A terrible father!"

"Traitor to the Clans!"

"The worst of cats!"

Crowfeather woke with a yowl in his nest, sitting up and panting. He felt chilled by the events of his dream, he swore that he could still feel the StarClan cats swarming over him.

"Crowfeather?" his mate, Nightcloud, murmured, lifting her head. "What's wrong?" Crowfeather looked at her, then yowled in terror again. What was Leafpool doing here?

It had been a dream. Just a dream. There was Nightcloud again, sleeping peacefully beside him. He rested his chin on her soft pelt, sighing with relief. Or maybe StarClan had sent him an omen. But why would they send him an omen? He wasn't leader, not yet, nor was he a medicine cat.

The scent of herbs wreathed around Crowfeather, waking him from his doze. The life of a medicine cat was so relaxing. All he had to do was collect herbs, treat sick and injured cats, and otherwise relax. He didn't have any kits or mate to worry about, for as medicine cat, he wasn't permitted to take a mate or have kits. Something nagged at the back of his mind, but Crowfeather ignored it, stretching out his legs before sitting up and heading to check on his herb store.

Suddenly, the medicinal scents changed. They smelled harsher. Stronger. Wrong, somehow. Crowfeather opened his eyes to a too-bright room, seeing something loom over him. A badger! He yowled, trying to jump to his feet, but his claws skidded on a slippery surface like ice. He was going to fall in and drown, any second now! The badger's huge paws closed around him, and suddenly, Crowfeather was being lifted up. He twisted around, claws out to rake the badger's face, and his yowl of terror stopped mid-yowl when he saw what had him. A Twoleg. But what? Why? The Twoleg brought something sharp up, something that glinted in the light, moving it towards Crowfeather's tail. But it stopped at the end of his body. What?

Sharp pain sliced through Crowfeather, waking him again. He was going to wake the whole Clan, yowling like this. He could swear that he still felt the thorn-sharp implement cutting into him, but a quick check ensured him that the cutting had not been completed. He sighed with relief. Until the pain came again.

Crowfeather staggered out of his den, heading straight for the dirtplace. He'd have to see the medicine cat about this in the morning, the real medicine cat, not him, not his mate. Well, ex-mate. And not his son. Pain gripped his stomach and he gasped. He was giving birth. He knew it, somehow. Having kits, just like both mates had done. He was sure of it, certain of it.

When Nightcloud awoke, the nest was cold and empty where her mate had been.

"Crowfeather?" she murmured, padding out of the den. It was still dark, the sun not yet risen. There was a cat on guard, though.

"Are you looking for Crowfeather?" he asked.

 

"Yes," said Nightcloud. "Has he gone out on patrol?"

"No, but I saw him heading out of camp after he went to the dirtplace in a hurry. He was muttering something about kits and StarClan." Nightcloud blinked. Well, that was... odd.

"I'll go and look for him," said Nightcloud, padding out of camp. "Thank you." The cat on guard nodded to her as she left.

After walking for quite some time, Nightcloud finally saw the dark shape of her mate sitting on one of the small hills that dotted their territory.

"Crowfeather?" she called softly. Crowfeather flinched, flattening his ears. Nightcloud padded up to sit beside him. He looked as though he hadn't slept. "Are you okay?" She pressed against him. He was so cold!

"Bad dreams," said Crowfeather. "I must've ate a bad mouse. There were StarClan and weird pelts and Twoleg things and the cutter and medicine cats and kits." Nightcloud walked in front of him, seeing that his eyes were wide.

"Yes," said Nightcloud. "A bad mouse. That must be it. Go and see Kestrelflight." Crowfeather shivered.

"I have no desire to be near StarClan at the moment," said Crowfeather. Nightcloud tipped her head to one side.

"Okay, suit yourself," said Nightcloud. "I'm going back to our nest. Goodnight, Crowfeather."

"Kits," Crowfeather whispered, his voice carried to her on the night breeze. Nightcloud twitched her ear. Toms were weird.


End file.
